The thick of it.

Here we are, I’d say, right in the thick of it. The time in this process where all the things are happening at once. I had my first meltdown about a week ago about a day or so after Justin and I finished our last big project on the house. As we wrapped up installing new flooring and a tongue and groove wood ceiling in our sunroom, Justin finally joined me in his readiness to sell the house. It hit him hard and out of frustration with the project we were doing which isn’t the best way to reach that state but nonetheless, he was there with me. Literally the next day we called our realtor friend over to give us a general once over of the house so we could plan ahead for any lingering projects. The house needs to show like a dream in order for us to break even on this investment. It’s been ten years and we’ve dumped tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket into our 1928 home but we always knew we’d never get it all back.

So there I was, wide awake and talking in circles before I realized that I was freaking out. I had about five different plans begging for my attention at once and lists in my head of all the tasks it would take to get each plan underway. I started talking through it with Justin and before I realized it I was saying things like “are you sure this is what we even want”, “what if we go to drive the motor home and it falls apart”, I don’t know if we’re doing any of this right”. Luckily for me I have a very level-headed husband and he calmed me in a few words. We hadn’t lost any money yet. We’ve only invested our time into this plan so far, besides the motor home which was paid for in cash and could easily be made back if we decided to scrap the whole idea. He told me not to jump the gun on anything. He told me that looking ahead at our furniture for the motor home before we get rid of the furniture in the house was just asking for more stress. That whole concept had to be dealt with.

“Project One Step at a Time” was born. In the morning when I woke up to make coffee, I wrote on our little chalkboard “One step at a time, everything will be fine”. And that has been the best reminder everyday since.

Justin going through his toys from when he was a kid. He made a bag for each niece/nephew!

We’re in the thick of it. There’s a whole lot going on around us most of which has been at home and not in the motor home. We are making some significant headway towards emptying the house of unwanted belongings. I’m now a regular at the Salvation Army drop off. Everything is either already at the storage unit or ready to be taken or waiting to be organized into proper totes. We removed some furniture, sold some stuff and even got rooms staged for showings once the house is ready to be put on the market. I’ve been doing little things here and there to not overwhelm myself but I still lay awake at night thinking of the next step and the best route to get us there.

This whole thing has not only been a practice in minimalism but a challenge of patience which I typically do not have an abundance of. We just absolutely can’t wait for the time, space and freedom of being in a different place!!

Progress Update:
We got the carpet out. We made a material list and a budget for the rebuild. Next on the list is rewiring and updating the lights to LED.